CHAPTER 9 FRAGMENT
D. Techniques for Spotting Problem Sentences
169 Task 3.
Locate and correct the five run-ons in the passage that follows.
1. My worst experience of the week was going home for lunch, rather than eating at work. My children did not know I was coming, they had used most of the bread. All I had to make a sandwich with were two thin, crumpled pieces of crust. I sat there eating my tattered sandwich and trying to relax, then the telephone rang. It was for my daughter, who was in the bathroom, she called down to me that I should get the person’s name and number.
2. As soon as I sat down again, someone knocked on the door, it was a neatly dressed couple with bright eyes who wanted to talk with me about a higher power in life. I politely got rid of them and went back to finish lunch. I thought I would relax over my coffee, I had to break up a fight between my two young sons about which television channel to watch. As a last bit of frustration, my daughter came downstairs and asked me to drive her over to a friend’s house before I went back to work.
170 2. A sentence beginning with a subordinating conjunction c. If you have trouble with fragments, look for these clues:
1. A word group with a single verb ending in -ing 2. A word group without both a subject and a verb d. Use the grammar checker on your computer to alert you to
possible problem sentences. Then use instructions from this book to make necessary corrections.
Task 4.
Write the appropriate identification in each blank. Correct the faulty sentences.
OK correct CS comma splice RO run-on FRAG fragment
1. ________Many people believe that he executed all six, but that is not true.
2. Right after he annulled his marriage to Anne of Cleves, he married Kathryn.
3. She was nineteen, young, and vivacious, he was forty- nine, fat, and suffering from a painful leg ulcer.
4. During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, many people developed an intense fear of being buried alive.
5. Doctors couldn’t measure brainwaves and other vital signs, diagnosing death was an inexact science.
6. A person who was only in a coma could appear dead, lead poisoning, for example, led to a long state of unconciousness that mimicked death.
7. Premature burial was a real possibility people passed around hundreds of stories about re-opened caskets revealing lids with claw marks and corpses with bloodied fingers.
171 8. The horror stories of writer Edgar Allan Poe often included premature burials, in “The Fall of the House of Usher,” a young woman breaks out of her tomb.
9. Poe’s stories “The Premature Burial,” “The Cask of Amontillado,” and “The Black Cat.”
10. Such stories contributed to the phobia, people developed customs designed to confi rm that someone was actually dead.
Task 5.
Tell whether each group of words is a fragment, a run-on, or a complete sentence. Write the fragment, run-on, or sentence on each line.
1. This afternoon after breakfast
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2. Justin, will you wash the car it really needs it.
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3. Sure, I'll wash the car after I eat supper.
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4. Justin searches for the bucket and sponge.
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5. The wax on the top shelf in the garage
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172 6. When Justin's brother saw the car
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7. The car looked wonderful.
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8. Justin saw clouds in the sky he hopes it doesn't rain.
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Task 6.
These sentences are run-on sentences. Separate each run-on into two complete sentences. Be sure each sentence begins with a capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.
1. I enjoyed playing basketball with you today do you want to play again tomorrow?
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2. Can you teach me how to make a three-point shot I have trouble with those.
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3. What time do you want to meet at the park can we play early in the morning?
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173 Task 7.
The following run-on sentences. Make them into two separate sentences.
1. That piano is beautiful, it has a beautiful sound, too.
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2. Maria enjoys swimming her brother Raoul prefers sailing and fishing.
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3. Can we leave now do you have the tickets?
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4. I don’t like most television comedies, they are boring.
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5. The business of renting DVDs is popular there are two new rental stores in town.
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6. Galina forgot her lunch she will have to buy one.
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7. Jason found his lost calculator, it was in an old backpack.
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174 8. I would love to see that show, the tickets are so expensive,
though.
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9. It began to rain hard, the hail started a few minutes later.
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10.In some places, there is no summer vacation can you imagine it?
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11.The teacher knew he was smart, he just did not work hard.
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12. Caitlyn knew that Jared wanted to go to the game he loved football so much.
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13.My dog thinks he’s human, he would sit at the kitchen table with us if we let him!
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14.Do you think Janine would like the necklace it’s so pretty.
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175 15.It’s nice outside, let’s go for a run.
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Task 8.
Change the following run-on sentences into compound or complex ones.
1. The Buccaneers are a winning team, they have a good defense.
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2. Maryanne practiced her ballet routine for two hours, she is in a special performance.
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3. The light was shining in my eyes, I pulled the shade down.
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4. Jean-Claude ran into the supermarket, he went to the bakery section.
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5. Julie was driving too fast, she slowed down when her mother told her to.
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6. I opened the door the phone rang.
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176 7. Rosita got a good grade on the French test, she studied very
hard.
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8. Mr. Carson doesn’t jog every day, he doesn’t golf anymore ______________________________________
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9. Shake the bottle of cold medicine, take two tablespoons, as the directions say.
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10.She listened to the CD player, she had earphones on.
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We have focused on sentences in this lesson—types of sentences and how to form them, as well as those troubling sentence fragments and run-on sentences. The following two exercises offer some more practice on what we have learned.
Task 9.
Eliminate all sentence fragments. Correct the run-on sentences. Add or eliminate words as needed.
1. If she were elected president of the Spanish Club.
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2. Have you ever seen the locks on the St. Lawrence Seaway, they are fascinating.
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3. With a cry of victory at the end of the long, hard tennis match.
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177 4. Visited my grandmother in Greenville.
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5. The dog barked noisily, then a car pulled into the driveway.
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6. Why don’t you plan a visit to the American Museum of Natural History, it has a fantastic collection of gems.
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7. When a duck and her five ducklings waddled across the street.
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8. Four runners standing in the starting line.
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9. Which had been closed for repairs.
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10. The boy’s team won four of their matches the girls’ team won five of theirs.
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11. Having gotten a good night’s sleep.
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12. The car was packed we left on vacation.
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13. The movie that was chosen as best picture of the year.
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178 14.Close the door let’s go.
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15. The senior class trip is to Disney World, is your brother going?
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Task 10.
Follow the directions carefully to create the sentences requested.
Sample:
Write a complex sentence with a subordinate clause beginning with unless.
Unless Daria cleaned her room, she wasn’t allowed to have a television in it.
1. Write a simple sentence with a compound subject.
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2. Write a compound sentence.
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3. Write a complex sentence.
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4. Write a complex sentence with a subordinate clause beginning with that.
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5. Write a simple sentence with a compound subject and a compound verb.
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179 6. Write a compound sentence using or.
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7. Write a simple sentence with a compound verb.
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8. Write a complex sentence with two subordinate clauses.
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9. Write a sentence with a subordinate clause beginning with if.
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10. Write a complex sentence with two independent clauses.
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